


trick or treat your heart

by evaneddie



Series: dhylen writes one shots [19]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Halloween, M/M, Spoilers for 3.06, fluffffffffff, kinda angsty?, mentions of violence but nothing too graphic, the elf from 2.10 is back babey, trick or treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-03 21:09:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21186032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evaneddie/pseuds/evaneddie
Summary: what we deserve in the upcoming ep; buck and eddie talking about everything that has happened lately, while trick-or-treating with chris. what will most likely happen; not this.





	trick or treat your heart

**Author's Note:**

> this is all andrea's fault. if she hadn't messaged me close to two am, i wouldn't have tossed this idea around. AND THEN SHE WOULDN'T HAVE CONVINCED ME TO WRITE IT. also, title credits go to her, too.
> 
> hope you enjoy :D

All dressed up and special effects make-up applied, Eddie gives Christopher a quick once over with his eyes, ensuring that nothing is missing. He takes in the sight in front of his eyes. Any other given day, seeing his son in this state would send the biggest rush of panic over him. But this isn't any regular day, this is Halloween! None of the wounds on his face are real, with their goopy, red substance drying in their tracks, with the tattered skin all rotting away and bruised. It's fake. All of it. He'd spent the better part of two hours putting everything together after watching countless tutorials on the internet, so there's no way it's real. He knows this. But his brain, his stupid, frustrating brain can't help but wander back to when he held the boy after the tsunami and saw a few scratches on his face.

Sure, compared to now, it was so mild and pretty much nothing to worry about. But he can't help it. They're incomparable. That's what the logical part of his mind tells him. He must listen to that side. He has to choose to listen. Although zombifying his son isn't near as good as he'd hoped, or as he'd seen on previously stated internet video tutorials prior to attempting it, it still looks half decent. The main thing is, however, if Chris likes it.

"Okay, kiddo. What do you think?" Eddie steps aside as Christopher gently places his glasses on his face to see properly. The tiny hands move slowly, as to not mess up any of his dad's hard work.

Like the light of a million stars his face lights up joyously, and he sounds out a very audible gasp before squealing softly. "I love it, Daddy! I'm so scary."

"Yeah, you are," comes the voice from behind Eddie's back. They're still not really on the best of terms, but they're getting along again, so Eddie had decided to invite Buck along to the outing Eddie has only ever done with his son. It'd be good for Christopher. Hell, for Buck and Eddie it'd be a good experience, too. They need this bonding time.

Smiling softly, Eddie looks at Buck, and sees he's nowhere near ready to go. Where's his costume? He can't be backing out of this, not now!

"You invitied my Buck?" Christopher asks his dad quietly, but purposefully loud enough for the man in question to hear. 

Eddie doesn't know what to reply, so he merely nods, hoping that it will suffice. It seems to work, as Christopher turns his head to the side to talk to Buck.

"Bucky, what are you dressed as?" His voice is small, but more enthusiastic than Eddie would have been had he asked the same question that's lingering on his mind.

"Just a minute, buddy. I need to talk to your dad, okay?"

Wondering what the conversation could be about, Eddie raises an eyebrow at his friend. Buck had promised that he would be dressed up. So why is he standing in Eddie's bathroom, in a pair of black shorts and a maroon shirt? The same outfit he had worn just weeks ago when Eddie had dropped his walls for just a moment to tell Buck how much he trusted him. The same shirt that acted as a barrier between the palm of his hand and the flesh of Buck's shoulder. That day, he had taken the chance, with not only the most important thing in his life, but with his heart. It hadn't really been a confession of how he feels about Buck, but it was something he felt needed to be voiced. Something he'd been terrified to do, until Buck had put himself down about everything that happened in the events leading up to then. Hearing Buck talk so lowly of himself had made Eddie push all his anxieties aside for a minute, and he opened his heart, showing Buck that he wasn't alone and to comfort him.

The moment Eddie had closed the door of Buck's apartment, he'd pressed his forehead against the cool surface of the door, trying to catch the breath he didn't realise he'd been holding in. His thumb tingled from where it had touched a soft area of Buck's neck, lightly scraping over a small trace of stubble, and feeling the heavy thrum of his pulse underneath it. Everything was happening so fast, but nothing was happening at all. Pretty dumb, really.

"Okay," Christopher says, standing wobbly on his feet from his place on the edge of the bathtub. Christopher, with Eddie's permission, had decided to decorate his once-red-now-dirty-and-bloodstained crutches. They look now like they were designed to be a part of his zombie alter. He grabs them and carefully walks past the two adults and makes his way into the living room. 

"What's going on?" Eddie queries once they are for sure alone. "Where's your costume?" 

"I'm wearing it," he replies with a proud smirk on his mouth.

"What? What the hell are you?" This is no time for games. Buck had promised to dress up. That was one of the only two conditions Eddie had given him in return for being invited along.

Buck, being the big child-at-heart that he is, had jumped at the chance. He had literally sounded like a kid on Christmas, and had looked like a puppy that had just discovered a secret stash of treats.

"I," Buck says, gesturing to his entire body for emphasis, "am a dumbass idiot, that can't apologise enough to his best friend and said friend's kid for everything he did, but wants to try."

Eddie can't help but smile, and roll his eyes of course, but he smiles nonetheless. Even huffs a small laugh with a shake of his head in disbelief. 

"You're a dork." That's all he can manage. His eyes trail down to Buck's now fully healed leg. It's almost unbelievable how he has survived everything these past few months. Almost, but not quite. The Buck he knows is a fighter. A fighter for the good, for what he wants, and while everything that went down had hurt Eddie, he needs to try and understand what things have been like for Buck. There's a few scars on the leg that had been trapped, some from the initial injury, and others from later surgeries for the pins, and to repair all the tendon and nerve damage, and more for the clotting that needed to be stopped. Some are more pink than others, but for the most of it, they're nearly all that slightly off colour compared to his regular skin tone that scars go once properly healed.

More than once he thought he was going to lose Buck, and gosh that made him feel sick in the stomach. Anyone would feel something like that when someone close to them was going through all the things Buck did. But for Eddie, Buck isn't just someone that's close to him. Buck is more than that, and he doesn't know what to do with that newly discovered information, thanks to none other than Lena. The person who was kind-of-but-not-really Buck's replacement, the person that had taken him to an illegal street fight, the person that he thought was crushing on him until she voiced her opinions on the argument that went down in the market not too long ago. Right now, he can't be thinking about this. Right now he has to go get changed and so does Buck, if he brought the costumes with him.

"Costumes are in a bag on the kitchen counter. I'll go get them." 

Eddie is grateful to have a moment alone with his thoughts. Even if it were only to be for a few seconds; the kitchen isn't very far. There's so much stuff he has to deal with in his brain at the moment, and while he would love nothing more than to tell Buck how he feels, he just can't. Not yet. Not for a while. There's so much anger built up within him from over the years, and when Buck had started with the lawsuit, that had oushed him over the edge, into a downward spiral. That's why Lena had taken him to the fight, to help him blow off steam. Yeah, there's probably better ways of dealing with it all, but he'd be lying if he says it doesn't feel good to partake in it. Not just throwning punches and kicks at people, but people hitting him back, beating him until he bleeds or breaks. Because it feels good. Like somehow, deep inside him, he feels like he deserves it.

The rustling of the bag becomes closer as Buck comes into view again. With a lopsided smile, he reaches into the bag and pulls out two similar, but not identical, outfits. Wizard outfits. "Wizards? Really, Buck?"

Oh yeah, that was the other condition. Buck had to supply the costumes. They had to be kickass. Those were literally the words Eddie had said to him. Yet, here he is, standing in the bathroom, close enough for Eddie to see every soft edge of the birthmark above his eye, for Eddie to notice how blue his eyes look, and how his smile hasn't faltered one bit.

"You didn't really give me much notice, man." 

Can't fault him on that one. It was a last minute decision. Literally. It was that morning at the station when Eddie had asked Buck if he wanted to come along. 

Sighing, Eddie takes one of the dark materials from Buck's outstretched hand. Without even thinking, he takes a step backward and starts to take off his grey shirt in front of Buck, not caring. They've done this multiple times in the locker room at work, what makes this any different?

Buck shrugs and follows the actions, quickly changing into his own costume.

"We're the unreleased special edition of Harry Potter and the Walking Dead," Buck exclaims with a wiggle of his eyebrows. He's clearly please with himself about that one, and even chuckles softly. Eddie joins in. Oh how he's missed this.

* * *

Walking just three paces behind Christopher, Buck and Eddie stride alongside one another, occasionally bumping their biceps together. Buck holds the ratty old pillow case the kid has declared his candy bag, and Eddie does everything in his power to keep his mind from wandering too far. 

"I really am sorry, Eddie. I just wanted my job back, my family. I need to get back to the team," Buck mutters, inhaling a shaky breath, "to you."

"Me?" Eddie's so confused. Why has Buck put him in a different category than the 118? Why had he felt the need to even say those last two words? They weren't necessary. The declaration would have still had the same impact without Buck separating them.

Christopher walks up to the yellow house on their left, and Eddie makes sure to stand right behind him with Buck while they knock. "Trick or treat?" Christopher announces with a large smile.

"Woah, young man," exclaims the teenage girl that had opened the door. "You look so scary, you frightened me."

Eddie had seen her around the neighbourhood before, and with every passing she always managed to somehow say hello to Christopher. Sometimes it were just mentioning his cool outfit, other times it was just as simple as a hello.

"I'm a zombie!" Chris replies, looking back towards Buck, who is now holding the candy bag open outwards.

She dumps a large handful of sweets into the bag and leans forward to ruffle Christopher's hair with a smile. "Have fun." With that, she closes the door behind her, and Chris turns and walks back out to the street.

It's not an area that's largely filled with kids, so while there are stragglers, there's not too many. Some are accompanied by adults or older siblings, others are what appear to be groups of school friends talking animatedly about which house has so far had the best candy.

"Yeah, you," Buck continues from next to him. "I miss my friend, and the thought of someone else having your back out there sucks."

Eddie nods. After thinking for a long while about everything that went down, Eddie now understands why Buck did what he did. Could he have gone a better way about it? Probably. But Eddie likes to think that if he were in the same situation he would have done what Buck did too. "I've missed you too, Evan."

Saying his first name felt oddly calming, but it also just felt odd. Somehow it seemed to feel like it fit, but he just wasn't used to it. There's no more anger towards Buck. Which doesn't mean that he's going to stop going to the street fighting ring. There are plenty of other things for him to be angry about, but Buck is no longer a reason.

Buck's silent after Eddie says his first name, obviously not expecting it to come out of his mouth. If he was being honest, Eddie wasn't expecting it either. It kind of just came out of nowhere. So Eddie speaks again, breaking the silence as Christopher heads towards another house. "I don't like having anyone else watching my six either. But hey, we've got each other's backs, okay?"

"Yeah," Buck smiles. "We've got each other's backs."

Things are okay between them again, for which Eddie is so happy about. But it's getting late, and Chris has school tomorrow, so they can't be out for too much longer. "One more house after this one, Chris."

"Okay, daddy," the boy replies sadly. 

As the three of them leave for the last house, a green one, with white accents, at the end of the street, Christopher looks up at the two adults and stops in front of them. "Dad? Can you hold my crutches please?"

What? "Sure, buddy. You okay?"

Eddie looks over at a smiling Buck, adoration filling his eyes, and it seems as if he knows what's going on. 

"Well, I can't walk properly, so it's perfect for a zombie walk." He's laughing as he speaks, eyes wide and bright, and Eddie prays to the universe that his son will never lose that spark.

"Zombie walk huh? You're amazing, kid."

Chris, no matter the situation, will always do everything he can to find the bright side. Sometimes it was damn near impossible, but he always managed it. Always. Looking to Buck again, he sees the proud look on his face, as his eyes are swimming with unshed tears. He doesn't let them fall, however. Wanting nothing more than to gently caress his cheek, Eddie has to stop himself short, and goes instead for a bicep squeeze.

He wants to be close to him, in more ways than one. But he's working through some things right now and he can't do that to Buck. Besides, there's no way on Earth that Buck feels the same about Eddie. Honestly, Eddie isn't even sure how he feels. He's got no idea what's going on with himself lately. Is he gay? Or something else? The one thing he does know for certain is that he's slowly falling for his best friend. But he can't do anything about it. He needs to stay silent.

Eddie has Christopher's crutches in his left hand, and his right one brushes against Buck's left as they walk down the street. It's a slower pace than before, taking into account Christopher's zombie walk. All he has to do is reach out his finger, and wind his hand around to be palm-to-palm with Buck. But he can't do this. He needs to work through stuff first.

Forcing himself to withhold it all, Eddie sighs lightly. He's never been more confused and frustrated in his life than he is at this moment. But here they stand, behind Christopher, on the front porch of their last house of the night, and Buck is so close to him that their arms are touching again.

Eddie wants to shout. Nothing in particular, just a sound from the back of his throat.

"Trick-or-treat?" asks Christopher, holding out his nearly full candy sack. 

The lady that opens the door stands with a wide smile, her blonde hair pulled back into a pony tail. Eddie recognises her, but he can't place where from. He knows she looks familiar, and that it was maybe a while ago.

"Hey, I remember you," Christopher announces, breaking Eddie's train of thought. "You're the elf from Christmas last year. You helped me."

Oh! Of course it was her! No wonder she looked so familiar. Buck's standing there, not saying a word, and a soft shade of pink creeps up on his cheeks. Does Buck like her? Eddie can't help but feel deflated at that realisation. He knew there was no way Buck likes him back. Not in the way Eddie was hoping for. Though, he didn't think the elf was Buck's type. 

"You okay there, Buckaroo?" Eddie whispers into Buck's ear as Christopher explains how his make up was done.

"Mm-hm," he hums in reply with a short nod.

"We're the special edition Harry Potter and the Walking Dead!" Christopher was always overly enthusiastic, and this was no exception.

"I can see that," replies the lady with a chuckle. "Well, you three make an adorable family."

Eddie damn near chokes on his saliva, and he sees the blush on Buck's cheeks redden more. He has to be a good friend for Buck, he needs to correct her, even though the thought is enough to make him cringe. Oh how he hates this. Mostly, he just wants Buck to be happy. And if he has a thing for this lady, he needs to say something. He remembers back to just over a year ago when he had picked Christopher up off the ground and realised Buck was still a few steps behind, talking to the elf. He looked happy and flustered as he skipped lightly away, and Eddie had slowed his walking speed to near nothing so Buck could easily catch up.

"Oh, we're n-" Eddie is cut off abrubtly by Buck's voice.

"Thank you," he says, running his free hand through the hair on the top of his head, tossling gently.

A small giggle sounds from Christopher as the situation sits thickly between them. Eddie can't help but roll his eyes for the second time that night.

"Share these with your dads, okay?"

Christopher nods, smiling brightly as a full bowl gets emptied into the pillowcase. 

Buck takes the bag from Christopher, and swings it over his shoulder, holding it in place. Once Christopher makes his way to the path, the two men fall into stride next to each other again. But it feels different now. Something about all of this feels different. Eddie had felt warm and comforted by the fact a stranger had assumed they were a family out on Halloween. It felt nice. Even if it did sting a little when he noticed the blush on Buck's face.

"She said something similar to me last year." Buck voices. "She'd pulled me aside and said that the two of us have an adorable son." His free hand dangles at his side, still brushing lightly against Eddie's.

"Oh," is all Eddie can say. Had he gotten it all wrong and twisted?

"Yeah, I didn't correct her then, either. The two of you mean a lot to me, so who cares what other people think, ya know? Plus, it felt nice. I hope that's okay." Buck speaks softly, as if he's scared of what's to come next.

Before he can think twice, Eddie touches his fingers to Buck's, interlocking their hands as they walk. They were probably never going to talk about this again afterwards, and honestly, Eddie is okay with that. He just wants this moment. This moment with his best friend. This moment with his son.

"Come on, dads!" Chris shouts teasingly behind him, causing all three of them to laugh. "Keep up."

"We should probably talk about this, Eds," Buck whispers.

Oh shit.


End file.
